We can Listening to audio from a computer system requires a sound card. In order to make the sound card actually work, you also need a sound card driver. Although some Windows computers have a large amount of drivers already installed, you'll still have to verify whether it's the correct driver for your sound card.Interface Discrete sound cards are available in ISA and PCI models, although ISA cards are a vanishing breed and are increasingly hard to find. All recent embedded sound adapters use PCI. The much smaller bandwidth of ISA limits ISA cards in many respects, including generally requiring that wavetable data be stored locally, placing an upper limit of about 16 on simultaneous sound streams, and making effective 3D audio support impossible. The first PCI audio chipsets that emerged in the mid-90s were quite expensive, but current PCI cards are generally less expensive than ISA cards with similar functionality, primarily because they require little on-board memory.Synthesis typeFM synthesis is no longer used in current sound cards. All current midrange sound cards use wavetable synthesis, and some expensive sound cards use partial waveguide synthesis. The quality and features of wavetable synthesis vary depending on both the processor and the quality and size of the wavetable samples, with more expensive cards producing better synthesis, as you might expect.ChannelsEach MIDI interface supports 16 channels, each corresponding to one instrument. Low-end sound cards use a single MIDI interface, allowing up to 16 instruments to play simultaneously. Midrange and some high-end sound cards provide dual MIDI interfaces, allowing 32 simultaneous instruments. Some high-end sound cards, such as the Creative Labs SoundBlaster Live! Platinum, use a triple MIDI interface, which allows up to 48 simultaneous instruments. In general, 16-channel cards are suitable for most uses, 32-channel cards are useful for playing MIDI instrumentals realistically, and 48-channel cards are necessary only for the most complex MIDI environmentsFrequency responseThe range of human hearing is usually stated as 20 Hz to 20 kHz. All current sound cards nominally support this range or close to it, which is in fact required for PC 99 compliance. However, few cards state ± dB for that range, which specifies how flat the frequency response curve is. A good card may have frequency response of 20 Hz to 20 kHz at 3 dB down. A professional-level card may have frequency response of 20 Hz to 20 kHz at 1 dB down. Inexpensive cards may claim frequency response of 20 Hz to 20 kHz, but that range may turn out to be stated at 10 dB down or some similarly absurd number, which in effect means that actual usable frequency response may be something like 100 Hz to 10 kHz.SoundBlasterSoundBlaster compatibility, formerly a sine qua non for any sound card, is now largely immaterial except to those who still use DOS software, including DOS games. True SoundBlaster compatibility requires fixed IRQ, I/O port, and DMA assignments, whereas PCI cards are assigned resources dynamically. Within those constraints, all Creative Labs sound cards and most competing cards boast (nearly) full SoundBlaster compatibility. If you still use DOS applications, though, it's worth verifying whether real-mode drivers are available for a sound card before you purchase it.